Echoes in Eternity (The Pella Series Book 1) (68 page)

“You are my baby! You will always be my baby. I will always, ALWAYS love you, watch out for you,
and care for you even if you don’t see me,” he whispers over and over again.

“Don’t let me go daddy. I need you.”

“You have Alexander,” Marcus whispers fervently.

“Only because he agreed to guard me under duress,”
Elissa murmurs. Why does she have to think that?

“No, he agreed to guard you because he fell in love with your image
on his deathbed which I had to ward off. If he is disinterested in you, it’s because of the wards I have erected,” Marcus explains to my relief and surprise.

“Why would you ward his love off?”
Elissa asks, sitting up.

“Because your death would have come sooner and your future children would
also be condemned to death both by Eden and Hades. Love could not play a part in your existence until you were safe…” he says. “But, you did fall in love anyway,” he murmurs and my breath hitches. I watch Elissa intently to see her reaction.

“Why
would any of my children have been condemned to death by both Eden and Hades?” she asks instead, completely shocked. It is easy to understand her confusion. She knows why Hades is looking for her, but she hasn’t got a clue why Eden would want her dead.

Marcus
exhales sharply, blowing out his cheeks. His eyes close pained for a minute. Then he opens them wide and looks at Elissa. He puts his hand to his chest in a very humanly gesture. “You can’t imagine the pain of trying to keep your child alive from harm that could come both from heaven and hell. And knowing that she must exit this life, go somewhere I, an Angel of Eden can’t go, and wait for her to appear someplace else in the world. Not knowing how long I’d wait for you to come back. Each time you came back, the hunt was on again…

You see, your kind, the Nephilim were harsh on humanity because they
had become the dominant species. A few bad seeds spoiled it for all of you. Humans are fragile, their beauty is fleeting, they live such a short duration whereas the Nephilim had the best traits of both humans and the Angels,” Marcus says with pride straightening his spine.

“
The Nephilim were created to be immortal, powerful, your kind’s intelligence has been superior to humans and your physical traits both in beauty and strength were unmatched. This did not please some of us in Eden who were used to eons of routine and being the champions for humans. They were also displeased with two hundred Watchers who lusted after human women…” he pauses. “I fell in love beyond anything I have loved in all my existence,” he whispers. “I didn’t, I couldn’t empty my heart and break the love that overtook me no matter how hard I resisted. I loved your mom. I still do,” he whispers fervently hitting his heart with a fisted hand. Elissa’s face softens as her throat works on a hard swallow. She forces herself to blink to push her tears back.

“But when the children of
Watchers
became superior to humans; they easily became the dominating species. By then there were nearly two hundred of your kind and they have not only had the best traits of both species but they also learned the arts of their fathers. Our children excelled faster, easily took control of humanity’s leadership. They were inventive, creative, and with the knowledge of what was beyond this world, they were confident. They too had children of their own. They weren’t as superior as their fathers and mothers, but they still possessed qualities of their Nephilim parents and they were Nephilim by default. But, when humans recognized some of these traits, the Nephilim’s ability to understand the earth’s metals and minerals, understand seasons, predict weather, the movements of the sun and the moon, humans called these abilities heresy and tried to kill some of you. Being an Immortal doesn’t mean you are indestructible. Great conflicts arose. You were born at a time right before
the order of destruction
of the Nephilim came down from Jehovah after some of the champions of the human race wanted to balance the equation.”

“What do you mean when you say ‘
the order of destruction
?’“ Elissa asks. She can’t conceal the horrified tone from her voice.

“All of our children, all of the Nephilim are condemned to be eradicated up to and including
the first fifteen generations!” Marcus utters. His tone sounds monotonous as if he’s relating an unimportant part of history, but I can feel the betrayed edge in his voice.

“But why couldn’t the guilty ones be punished? I thought, children aren’t tainted with the sins of their fathers,”
Elissa mutters.

“That applies to humans only, sweetheart. We angels are under different rules, and laws. Our children didn’t fit the rules made for humans or the angels. They were somewhere in between. You were just born and I hid you and your mother for a while. But when they came for you, when the Angels of Eden came to kill you…” he stops, tries to compose himself. His face takes a tortured look. He closes his eyes, his lips thin into a grim line. Beads of
bloody tears run in a long string washing a trail of dust along their wake, leaving behind crimson trails. Elissa’s fingers reach up to his face, but she retracts without touching for fear of stopping him from telling his story.

“The verdict was hidden from us, but I have ways of getting information. I knew how the punishment was to be delivered. The verdict said,” he says gritting his teeth
in the tone of a judge reading the verdict of the defendant, “
No forgiveness, and no peace. Inasmuch as they delight themselves in their children, the murder of their beloved ones shall they see, and over the destruction of their children shall they lament, and shall make supplication unto eternity, but mercy and peace shall ye not attain.
” Marcus’ eyes looks into distance, but not seeing.

“When I heard that verdict, I knew I was wrong to assume that the divine laws protecting the human children were extended
to the Nephilim children. It was legal to murder every Nephilim up to fifteen generations. That included you…” he murmurs in a lifeless voice.

“Open season on all Nephilim?”
Elissa asks with horror.

“Yes. There are angels among humans who are tasked in protecting
the human race. All of a sudden it became legal for them to teach humans how to kill the Nephilim. They also instigated wars and fights. And killing our children was a crime no longer... There were Nephilim deserving of death, but there have been and still are worse humans who don’t face punishment until…” he stops and shakes his head. He looks at Elissa with softened eyes, gentle and fatherly.

“Do you really want to hear this?” he asks
her realizing how grim the story is.

“Yes, dad!”
she replies determined. Realizing this is her one chance to get some information. “There’s a reason why I’m here, and I had to die to see you! And, I’m not even sure if I can be resurrected,” she says pleading in fear that he will conceal some crucial information from her.

“You will be! Never doubt that!” he chides
Elissa. She shrugs with her limited movement in his arms.

“I don’t know how much of this information I will end up retaining, but, I think I have a right to know. I need to know. I know so little about who I am. Finding myself different than others, the bad dreams I’ve had for the last three years, my biological mother made me believe that I was somehow crazy… Abnormal… An abomination. I was being raised as a human only. My biological mother
was only involved in my life for the last three years and it was only because I was going to be of age to receive my trust fund which she thought belonged to her. She tried to kill me because of her dislike of me. In return, the
Fallen Angels
promised her youth and everything else she thought she deserved,” she says like a child appealing to her parent’s love and snuggles up to her dad automatically as if the experience is new and he can protect her. His arms hold her as tight as his chains would allow him.

“What is a biological mother?” he asks. “I’ve been a bit occupied to be familiarized with the newer vernaculars of human speech,” he adds.

“A birth mother of a child…”

“Whom the child inherits half her DNA,” he completes
her sentence.

“Yes,” she
acquiesces.

“You did not inherit any of your DNA from any of the women who gave birth to you. They were merely surrogates. So was that one. A carrier.”

“Well, no matter… It doesn’t hurt any less when the only parent you know tries to kill you to sacrifice for someone else’s devious purposes. I would have continued to think that I am somehow related to her because I had no substantial references to my parentage. You’re the first one…ever…to give me any sort of solid background about me and my kind’s past. Everyone has been treating me as if I’m breakable.”

“It’s because you are…”
replies Marcus with a soft smile.

“But why then are you telling me, now?”
Elissa retorts.

“You’re dead. For now, anyway. Rebirth requires you to know something about yourself: who you are and who you have been. They’re called the
memory seeds
. I am the only one who can provide them to you safely. I am still an Angel of Eden. I have capabilities that neither humans nor Nephilim possesses. Only a few other angels.”

“Are you letting me know just the minimal amount of information or am I allowed to ask you questions?”

“You can ask me anything my
broken angel
,” he says with the pain of a thousand years.

“W
hy do you call me that daddy?” she asks surprised at his endearment.

“It’s complicated,” he whispers. He exhales loudly.

“What?” Elissa ask. “What could be so complicated?”

“You see, I didn’t expect them, my own brothers to come for a toddler; they came for
MY
child!” His voice reverberates around his dungeon angrily, barely restraining his urge to shout to the top of his lungs.

“They came for you!” he lowers his voice to a heartbroken whisper. He barely restrains his tears.

“They were the Angels of Eden I have fought side by side with for eons. I was their commander! They knew you were a child of love, not just lust. Yet the order was given based on faulty information and biased concern because they were tasked to protect the humans which left no room for the concern of my child’s life,” he says pained, holding Elissa tighter. “Finally the grievous decision was made. I fought hard, but they restrained me. They’d known I’d continue to fight them all for you and your mother. You were two years old after all. The only thing that stood between the sword of Eden and you was your mother. She shielded you with her body. She gave her life in your protection. She wasn’t supposed to be killed! But, to prevent your death, death of our child by violence, she couldn’t accept it… They would have removed her dead body off of you and still killed you, but something unexpected happened. My chains broke; the shackles were removed with something you, a two year old toddler uttered while lying under your mother’s dead body. But, this was a sign of penance paid by love. My brothers knew.

It may have been their way of giving me time to sort it out, to look the other way for
the time being. I couldn’t have divided their loyalties. You have proven that you were different than all the other Nephilim. It was like a court case that I was granted a stay of execution. Because, there was bitter and hasty injustice. Jehovah does not do hasty. The rules haven’t changed, but they were not black or white in your kind’s case especially for you. The brothers left, but they knew I had lost trust. When I moved your mother’s body, I found you washed in her blood,” he whispers. Elissa is voiceless, completely in shock finally realizing that Marcus has been through so much for her! Finally finding her voice Elissa asks.

“What did I say?”

“You cried out with only the innocence of a child… You said, ‘When I get to heaven, I’m going to tell God all you did!’ while clutching to your mother,’ he whispers and continues to speak softly.

“You were terrified
, beyond distraught. Feeling the love of my existence gave her life in protecting our child, then seeing my baby clutching to the lifeless, blood soaked body of her mother…” he pauses. His voice is so low; I strain myself to hear him. “Nothing could have altered me more. The violence in which the Nephilim slaughtered regardless of their age made the
Fallen Angels
,
the Watchers
very very angry. Understandably so, because all our children and their offspring were condemned to die by violence! It was to be a clean sweep. The violent Nephilim were put out first. But not all of them were that way. They were just exceptional when it came to their abilities. One by one they were being extinguished in the most torturous methods to punish their fathers.

We realized that the rules for humans did not apply to our children.
The sins of the fathers were forced upon the children, and their children’s great great great grandchildren.”

“How could a loving God be so cruel?”
she asks shuddering.

“Love and punishment sometimes go hand in hand. Our children were not the intended creation. Though nothing is accidental… Nothing happens without Jehovah’s knowledge. But, I didn’t want to contemplate on the whys and hows. I did everything in my power to prevent you the misery of being murdered. But, your initial survival marked you as a sinless Nephilim which brought the attention of all the
Fallen
. You see, in order to bridge the gap the
Fallen
needed a sacrifice of their own kind, a sinless kind, and to save the lives of their children. This sacrifice had to be someone who is both an Angel and a Nephilim. The concept of sinless sacrifice applied to humans. Well, you’re half human. Suddenly, you were on the crosshairs of both Eden and the
Fallen
. I found the loophole to get you off Eden’s radar. They have to abide by the Divine Laws. Once you matriculated the fifteenth time, the Eden’s curse was off of you. But, that didn’t do anything to deter the
Fallen
. The longer you survived without being killed, the more agitated they got because you were literally the last man standing.”